The US FERC said on Monday it granted Corpus Christi Liquefaction’s February 2 request to introduce feed gas to the warm end of Midscale Train 5 for the Stage 3 project.

Following this, Cheniere is now expected to seek approval to introduce feed gas to the cold end of the train.

Last month, Cheniere kicked off commissioning activities at the fifth train of the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project.

Cheniere expects this train and the two remaining three trains to achieve substantial completion in 2026.

The project is ahead of schedule.

Expansion

In June 2022, Cheniere made the final investment decision on the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project, worth about $8 billion, while compatriot Bechtel officially started construction on the project in October of the same year.

The project includes building seven midscale trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa. However, Cheniere is seeking authorization from the US FERC to increase the capacity of these trains and the other two midscale trains.

In March 2025, Cheniere achieved substantial completion of the first liquefaction train at the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project, while the company completed the second liquefaction train in August, the third train in October, and the fourth train in December.

The project was 94.1 percent complete as of the end of last year.

Moreover, the Midscale Trains 8 & 9 project, for which FID was made in June last year, was 31.8 percent complete.

Upon completion of these expansion projects, and together with expected debottlenecking, the Corpus Christi LNG terminal is expected to reach over 30 mtpa in total liquefaction capacity later this decade, according to Cheniere.

In addition, Cheniere recently filed an application with the US FERC seeking approval to build four additional liquefaction trains and related infrastructure at its Corpus Christi LNG terminal

The anticipated production capacity for the CCL Stage 4 project is projected to be approximately 6 mtpa per train, for a maximum aggregate of approximately 24 mtpa.